Visitors to the Future Missions tent learn about the Thermal Protection System (TPS) for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle that will take astronaut crews to the International Space Station and will later return humans to the Moon.
Date
7/6/08
Taurus Stands Tall
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Obser
…
2/20/09
Description
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, OCO, upper stack is lowered onto the Stage 0 motor of Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL vehicle. The vehicle and spacecraft will launch from Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Image credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen Feb. 19, 2009
Date
2/20/09
The Upper Stack
Just before dawn on Launch C
…
2/19/09
Description
Just before dawn on Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane lifts the tent covering (at left) NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, the Taurus XL upper stack and the umbilical tower. The tent removal will allow OCO to be hoisted into place atop the Taurus rocket's Stage 0. Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin Feb. 18, 2009
Date
2/19/09
Reporting to the Launch Pad
The payload fairing carrying
…
2/16/09
Description
The payload fairing carrying NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory arrives at Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The spacecraft will launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, being erected at left. Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB Feb. 10, 2009
Date
2/16/09
Delta Soars
United Launch Alliance's Del
…
3/9/09
Description
United Launch Alliance's Delta II rocket roars into the night sky carrying NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller March 6, 2009
Date
3/9/09
2008 Solar Eclipse at Totali
…
This image shows the Aug. 1,
…
8/6/08
Description
This image shows the Aug. 1, 2008, solar eclipse at the point of totality, when the moon completely blocks out the body of the sun, revealing the normally hidden, halo-like corona. Credit: The Exploratorium
Date
8/6/08
Kilauea X, C & L/3-D
This is a three-dimensional
…
4/18/94
Date
4/18/94
Description
This is a three-dimensional perspective view of a false-color image of the eastern part of the Big Island of Hawaii. It was produced using all three radar frequencies -- X-band, C-band and L-band -- from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying on the space shuttle Endeavour, overlaid on a U.S. Geological Survey digital elevation map. Visible in the center of the image in blue are the summit crater (Kilauea Caldera) which contains the smaller Halemaumau Crater, and the line of collapse craters below them that form the Chain of Craters Road. The image was acquired on April 12, 1994 during orbit 52 of the space shuttle. The area shown is approximately 34 by 57 kilometers (21 by 35 miles) with the top of the image pointing toward northwest. The image is centered at about 155.25 degrees west longitude and 19.5 degrees north latitude. The false colors are created by displaying three radar channels of different frequency. Red areas correspond to high backscatter at L-HV polarization, while green areas exhibit high backscatter at C-HV polarization. Finally blue shows high return at X-VV polarization. Using this color scheme, the rain forest appears bright on the image, while the green areas correspond to lower vegetation. The lava flows have different colors depending on their types and are easily recognizable due to their shapes. The flows at the top of the image originated from the Mauna Loa volcano. Kilauea volcano has been almost continuously active for more than the last 11 years. Field teams that were on the ground specifically to support these radar observations report that there was vigorous surface activity about 400 meters (one-quarter mile) inland from the coast. A moving lava flow about 200 meters (650 feet) in length was observed at the time of the shuttle overflight, raising the possibility that subsequent images taken during this mission will show changes in the landscape. Currently, most of the lava that is erupted travels the 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Pu'u O'o crater (the active vent) just outside this image to the coast through a series of lava tubes, but in the past there have been many large lava flows that have traveled this distance, destroying houses and parts of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This SIR-C/X-SAR image shows two types of lava flows that are common to Hawaiian volcanoes. Pahoehoe lava flows are relatively smooth, and appear very dark blue because much of the radar energy is reflected away from the radar. In contrast other lava flows are relatively rough and bounce much of the radar energy back to the radar, making that part of the image bright blue. This radar image is valuable because it allows scientists to study an evolving lava flow field from the Pu'u O'o vent. Much of the area on the northeast side (right) of the volcano is covered with tropical rain forest, and because trees reflect a lot of the radar energy, the forest appears bright in this radar scene. The linear feature running from Kilauea Crater to the right of the image is Highway 11 leading to the city of Hilo which is located just beyond the right edge of this image. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. The radars illuminate Earth with microwaves allowing detailed observations at any time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions. SIR-C/X-SAR uses three microwave wavelengths: L-band (24 cm), C-band (6 cm) and X-band (3 cm). The multi-frequency data will be used by the international scientific community to better understand the global environment and how it is changing. The SIR-C/X-SAR data, complemented by aircraft and ground studies, will give scientists clearer insights into those environmental changes which are caused by nature and those changes which are induced by human activity. SIR-C was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. X-SAR was developed by the Dornier and Alenia Spazio companies for the German space agency, Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA), and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), with the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft und Raumfahrt e.v. (DLR), the major partner in science, operations and data processing of X-SAR.
NASA Destination Tomorrow -
…
NASA Destination Tomorrow Se
…
6/1/03
Description
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the function of aerobraking and how this helps reduce costs and create more room in aircraft.
Date
6/1/03
Houston, Texas L & C bands
This image of Houston, Texas
…
6/8/95
Date
6/8/95
Description
This image of Houston, Texas, shows the amount of detail that is possible to obtain using spaceborne radar imaging. Images such as this -- obtained by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying aboard the space shuttle Endeavor last fall -- can become an effective tool for urban planners who map and monitor land use patterns in urban, agricultural and wetland areas. Central Houston appears pink and white in the upper portion of the image, outlined and crisscrossed by freeways. The image was obtained on October 10, 1994, during the space shuttle's 167th orbit. The area shown is 100 kilometers by 60 kilometers (62 miles by 38 miles) and is centered at 29.38 degrees north latitude, 95.1 degrees west longitude. North is toward the upper left. The pink areas designate urban development while the green- and blue-patterned areas are agricultural fields. Black areas are bodies of water, including Galveston Bay along the right edge and the Gulf of Mexico at the bottom of the image. Interstate 45 runs from top to bottom through the image. The narrow island at the bottom of the image is Galveston Island, with the city of Galveston at its northeast (right) end. The dark cross in the upper center of the image is Hobby Airport. Ellington Air Force Base is visible below Hobby on the other side of Interstate 45. Clear Lake is the dark body of water in the middle right of the image. The green square just north of Clear Lake is Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control and the astronaut training facilities. The black rectangle with a white center that appears to the left of the city center is the Houston Astrodome. The colors in this image were obtained using the follow radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted, vertically received), green represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted, vertically received), blue represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received). ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar(SIR- C/X-SAR) is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. The radars illuminate Earth with microwaves, allowing detailed observations at any time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions. SIR- C/X-SAR uses three microwave wavelengths: L-band (24 cm), C-band (6 cm) and X-band (3 cm). The multi-frequency data will be used by the international scientific community to better understand the global environment and how it is changing. The SIR-C/X-SAR data, complemented by aircraft and ground studies, will give scientists clearer insights into those environmental changes which are caused by nature and those changes which are induced by human activity. SIR-C was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. X-SAR was developed by the Dornier and Alenia Spazio companies for the German space agency, Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA), and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) with the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer luft und Raumfahrt e.V.(DLR), the major partner in science, operations and data processing of X-SAR. #####
Columbia Memorial
title
Columbia Memorial
date
01.06.2004
description
The landing site of the Mars Spirit rover in honor of the astronauts who died in the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February. The area in the vast flatland of the Gusev Crater where Spirit landed this weekend will be called the Columbia Memorial Station. Since its historic landing, Spirit has been sending extraordinary images of its new surroundings on the red planet over the past few days. Among them, an image of a memorial plaque placed on the spacecraft to Columbia's astronauts and the STS-107 mission. The plaque is mounted on the back of Spirit's high-gain antenna, a disc-shaped tool used for communicating directly with Earth. The plaque is aluminum and approximately six inches in diameter. The memorial plaque was attached March 28, 2003, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Chris Voorhees and Peter Illsley, Mars Exploration Rover engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed the plaque. *Image Credit*: NASA
Manicouagan Reservoir
title
Manicouagan Reservoir
description
Located in a rugged, heavily timbered area of the Canadian Shield in Quebec Province, Manicouagan Reservoir is impressive in this low-oblique, west-looking photograph. The reservoir, a large annular lake, marks the site of an impact crater 100 kilometers wide. Formed almost 212 million years ago when a large meteorite hit Earth, the crater has been worn down by many advances and retreats of glaciers and other processes of erosion. The reservoir is drained at its south end by the Manicouagan River, which flows from the reservoir and empties into the Saint Lawrence River nearly 483 kilometers south. *Note*: The tail fin visible on the lower left side of the image belongs to the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was taken during a 10-day mission in November-December 1983. *Image Credit*: NASA
1-11 of 11
Please wait while the presentation is being created...
